So Dark Deity came out on consoles recently (it’s been on PC for a while), and one casual glance at any given screenshot would tell you “Well that’s a Fire Emblem game, innit?”
And you’d basically be right, because it is very much a Fire Emblem game. So much more so than the last several actual Fire Emblem games that Nintendo released.
Granted, if the last four three one was an action game spinoff, one was a Persona game with Fire Emblem characters, and one was a remake of the least traditional game of the series. And also Three Houses, where my complaints are personal and aesthetic.
Anyway, as it happens not only is Dark Deity definitely an FE game; it’s also a really good one; you’re given units at a heavy clip, excess Jabber is mainly restricted to Support Conversations, maps are varied and pretty well designed (so far as I’ve played at least), and while death is punitive, it’s not permanent (a dead character incurs a permanent stat penalty and loses the opportunity to gain any more experience while they sit out that map, and there’s no random battles to grind with).
The area where it’s most distinct from Fire Emblem mechanically is also the part I have the biggest issue with; not that it’s bad it’s just needlessly complex (though the game itself addresses this by putting an icon over each character); the weapon triangle is weird.
Each unit has one of four classes of armor, and one weapon type (slashing, piercing, blunt or, if magic, one of several elements). And each armor type is more or less vulnerable to one or more of those types.
Unlike in Fire Emblem you can’t really judge that by glancing at the sprite; and since magic has its own set of resistances and vulnerabilities, that’s effective two sets of four way triangles to keep track of.
Additionally each unit has one of four weapons they can swap between (no durability with them, thankfully) which typically work somewhere on a “More Accuracy, More Power, More Critical, Balanced” spectrum which can be independently upgraded, which isn’t super balanced as the “More Critical, Medium Accuracy” choice is the right one 90% of the time, especially with anyone in any of the Thief promotion paths; they’re… unstoppable.
Anyway Dark Deity; I love it! Maybe you would too?!?
Probably!
And you’d basically be right, because it is very much a Fire Emblem game. So much more so than the last several actual Fire Emblem games that Nintendo released.
Granted, if the last four three one was an action game spinoff, one was a Persona game with Fire Emblem characters, and one was a remake of the least traditional game of the series. And also Three Houses, where my complaints are personal and aesthetic.
Anyway, as it happens not only is Dark Deity definitely an FE game; it’s also a really good one; you’re given units at a heavy clip, excess Jabber is mainly restricted to Support Conversations, maps are varied and pretty well designed (so far as I’ve played at least), and while death is punitive, it’s not permanent (a dead character incurs a permanent stat penalty and loses the opportunity to gain any more experience while they sit out that map, and there’s no random battles to grind with).
The area where it’s most distinct from Fire Emblem mechanically is also the part I have the biggest issue with; not that it’s bad it’s just needlessly complex (though the game itself addresses this by putting an icon over each character); the weapon triangle is weird.
Each unit has one of four classes of armor, and one weapon type (slashing, piercing, blunt or, if magic, one of several elements). And each armor type is more or less vulnerable to one or more of those types.
Unlike in Fire Emblem you can’t really judge that by glancing at the sprite; and since magic has its own set of resistances and vulnerabilities, that’s effective two sets of four way triangles to keep track of.
Additionally each unit has one of four weapons they can swap between (no durability with them, thankfully) which typically work somewhere on a “More Accuracy, More Power, More Critical, Balanced” spectrum which can be independently upgraded, which isn’t super balanced as the “More Critical, Medium Accuracy” choice is the right one 90% of the time, especially with anyone in any of the Thief promotion paths; they’re… unstoppable.
Anyway Dark Deity; I love it! Maybe you would too?!?
Probably!
